1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cattle feeder ring carrier with spears for moving a bale and/or the round hay feeder.
2. Description of the Related Art
The present practice of feeding cattle is to take the fresh hay bale out to the feeding ground where the tractor operator must leave the tractor, manually lift the heavy feeder ring and place the ring over the hay bale. Within a few days, there is a need to move the ring because the area becomes muddy and tends to rust the metal ring.
The relevant art of interest describes various hay bale carriers and the like. However, none describes the ring carrier spear for a bale and a round hay feeder. The relevant art of interest will be described in the order of perceived relevance to the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,094,581 issued on Mar. 10, 1992, to George K. Lamb describes a bale handling apparatus which is attached to a front-end bucket loader of a farm tractor. A grapple with four hooks is coupled with a pair of vertical ribs welded to the rear of the bucket. Other grapple supports connect on each side of the bucket to the lift arm of the tractor. When the bucket is lowered to grasp the hay bale, the grapple swings upward, and when the bucket is raised, the grapple swings down to the bucket containing the hay bale. The apparatus is distinguishable because it is limited to the transformed bucket of a front-end loader tractor.
Australia Patent Application No. 250,723 published on Sep. 27, 1962, for Alan Lehmann describes a silage handling implement which is box shaped with an upper array of movable curved fingers and a fixed lower array of horizontally aligned prongs to spear the silage. The apparatus is attached to the rear of a farm tractor with hydraulic means adjacent the fingers to lower into the pierced silage. The apparatus is distinguishable for its grappling mechanism.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,476,356 issued on Dec. 19, 1995, to Leonard D. Weiss describes a bale handling apparatus for use with the front end of a tractor loader which is capable of handling various types and shapes of loose hay and bales. An upright frame supports a horizontal retainer frame with a row of grapple forks rotatable by a hydraulic cylinder to open and close over a fixed array of horizontal tines on a cross member. The apparatus is distinguishable for its grappling mechanism.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,897,880 issued on Aug. 5, 1975, to Robert J. Waske et al. describes a hay handling apparatus mounted on the flatbed of a pickup truck. An upright L-shaped support member has its short base leg attached to a horizontal bar which pivots in brackets on the rear bumper. The horizontal bar has two extensions which support lances. The vertical long leg is hinged to a pivotal perpendicular rod which has two pivoting lances. A winch releases a cable attached to the pivotal perpendicular rod to extend the upper lances out under a bias by a compression spring, and permits the upright L-shaped support member to pivot out and spear a hay bale with its lower lances and its upper lances to pull back the speared bale into the flatbed with the winch. The mounted apparatus is distinguishable for its jaw-type mechanism to spear a hay bale and load onto a flatbed truck.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,934,726 issued on Jun. 27, 1976, to Leon C. Martin describes a bale carrier mounted on a three-point hitch of a farm tractor. An upright triangular frame has a base tube containing a rotatable pipe with tines perpendicular to it at its free ends. The apex of the frame supports a pair of vertical arms between which another arm with a perpendicular positioned hook is pivoted by a hydraulic cylinder. The hay bale is pierced by the tines and hook, lifted up and carried by the tractor. The carrier apparatus is distinguishable for its clamping structure requiring a separate hydraulic cylinder.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,290,133 issued on Mar. 1, 1994, to Brent W. Riley describes a bale handling apparatus and carriage. The lifting apparatus includes a grapple-like lifting component having an upright rectangular frame, an upper rotatable fork set, and a rotatable bottom fork set with tips. Both sets of forks are movable relative to the frame and to each other by actuation of a hydraulic cylinder. The lifting apparatus is connected to a three-point hitch of a farm tractor. The lifting apparatus is distinguishable for its rotatable doubled fork sets.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,135,343 issued on Aug. 4, 1992, to Myron O. Wigness describes a method and apparatus for handling bales for attachment to the rear of a pickup truck. The main frame is U-shaped with the cross member having a pivoting sleeve supporting a leverage pole with a loop on its end. The main frame is pivotally attached to a mounting base affixed to the bumper. The ends of the U-frame have a floating spear attached by a collar and tether to the U-frame. The main frame is lowered to the bale by a winch attached to the bed of the truck. The spear is thrust through the bale, tethered and rotated up onto the truck by the winch. The apparatus is distinguishable for its boom-like structure.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,651,653 issued on Jul. 29, 1997, to Noel Bablo describes a hayroll handling device comprising a bale spear secured to a hydraulic snowplow headgear mounted on the front end of a truck. The pivoting single spear can be hollow or solid. The device is distinguishable for its single pivoting spear.
U.K. Patent Application No. 2,199,012 published on Jun. 29, 1988, for Raymond Fitzell et al. describes a loader tractor driven apparatus for moving hay bales. The front boom of the tractor has a lower bale support with a bottom roller pivotable on the boom. An upright post has a curved arm with two retaining rollers extending perpendicularly at its end. The arm is raised up by a hydraulic ram, the bale is approached and the bottom roller is pushed under the bale. The boom is lowered to grasp the bale and raised for transport. The apparatus is distinguishable for its single grappling arm with a roller and its bottom roller.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singularly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed. Thus, a feeder ring carrier and spear apparatus for a round hay feeder solving the aforementioned problems is desired.